Half of my photo's are black

I cannot figure out why half of my photos come out black. I keep it on the auto setting and have had 2 or more rolls of perfect outdoor pics. Unfortunatley, though, my most recent pics have been a dissappointment. Any ideas?

With each picture taken, the left side of each picture is completey black and the right side is clear.With each picture taken, the left side of each picture is completey black and the right side is clear.

This is a 10mm camera right?
Then the reason is roll has been exposed to light at some point.
check your lab, they have exposed it to light, but if it happens again using a differnent lab then your camera is letting light on one side.
JPW

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When the shutter assembly fails all you can do is to set the camera to manual exposure, select the "B" shutter speed, and with the lens off and the back open, fire the shutter. In the B setting the shutter will remain open as long as you hold the shutter button, allowing you to see if there's an obvious obstruction.

If there's nothing obvious, then the shutter assembly must be replaced and as it's an uneconomical repair on that model your camera effectively becomes a spares donor.

You can get similar models very cheaply on auction websites or even for nothing at all on sites like FreeCycle and Freegle as they're effectively worthless, even in good working order.

Hi,
I've found the instruction manual online for you, http://www.mediacollege.com/equipment/manual/konica-minolta/camera/maxxum-qtsi.pdf that way you have it for future reference.
For loading film you open up the back of the camera and make sure that the end of the roll of film is aligned with a red mark and then you close the back. For taking pictures you press the shutter button half way in order for it to focus, when the image you want is framed you press the shutter button the entire way and it'll take the photo.

I think the aperture is not shutting down to the opening you set it to. In an SLR, the aperture is normally fully open for viewing through the lens. When you press the button, the mirror flips up and the aperture closes to the figure you have set, then the shutter fires. If you have set a daytime aperture and the aperture sticks, you get a wide open aperture and an overexposed shot, but at night, you have set an open or almost open aperture anyway.

It is possible that the shutter is the problem, but the aperture is more likely to go wrong in my experience. It only takes a drop of oil on the blades. There ought to be a button or lever to shut the aperture down for depth of field preview which you could use to test this, or just look in the lens when the shutter fires to see if the aperture closes.

tlguthrie,
I love that camera. There are several possiblities, If you are using the pop up built-in flash with a telephoto lens or a lens hood you'll get a shadow in your photos ususally at the bottom of landscape oriented shots. If you are using a flash unit attached it may have something interfering with the strobe possibly or it is turned. We have the same camera and have had the shadow issue in the past. The pop up just won't work if something is wrong with the "bulb" the only other thing is that is isn't going all the way up, check that also.
randy32osgi

snoopytwo, jmv23 & guests,Sounds like you have been taking photos in both auto & manual modes, make sure your f-stop is set at the range it needs to be to allow enough light for the camera to take the photo. Since the lens and the camera communicate, if the lens is closed down & not allowing enough light the camera will not take the photo - does that make sense - Look at the metering in auto mode and see what the camera says the conditions are for a specific lighting condition check to see if the lens has a aperture position for Auto, usually a dot on the lens ring to align with a setting in red or green (likely a F-22) depending on the make of lens, that has been moved to some place in the middle and not returned while trying other manual settings so the shutter won't release because the camera is told by the lens there is not enough light or slow enough shutter to take this picture.randy320sgi

Set camera to B , open back door and release the shutter and keep it open while you inspect focal plain area. Is the shutter fully opened ? If you release again is the shutter opening completely and closing completely ? While the shutter is fully opened on B look through the shutter/ mirror box area is anything obstracting your view ?
Seems like one of the shutter curtains is not opening properly and shutter will need servicing. Please note that it may not be economical to repair : $ 150-200 if the shutter block does not have to be replaced completely.